The graceful beauty of a superstar in the making
COMMENT
The poet John Keats never lived to see Shergar lope round Epsom Downs or Roger Federer glide across the Wimbledon grass or Haile Gebrselassie bounce down the back straight in Sydney. Keats might then have said sport is beauty. And even if the young Keats had seen all of these things, and clung stubbornly to the truth, then surely the sight of Rieko Ioane would have changed his mind.
Jonah Lomu was brutal. He destroyed what was in front of him. His legs moved like pistons. But Ioane flows over the ground like the most beautiful racehorse. Already it is one of the great sights of modern sport. Already Ioane is rugby’s player of the year, and for my money, he is likely to be the player of this decade. He is still only 20 for goodness sake.
Yes, I know, the judges gave the player of the year award to Beauden Barrett and thereby made fools of themselves and World Rugby. But what should we expect? How much rugby do Richie McCaw, John Smit, George Gregan, Maggie Alphonsi, Clive Woodward, Brian O’Driscoll, Fabien Galthie and Agustin Pichot pore over in a year.
Remember World Rugby managed to leave Conor Murray, Brodie Retallick, Malcolm Marx and Stuart Hogg off the rather silly shortlist. Players don’t make great observers, that is why so few go on to be great coaches. Look at New Zealand’s current day coaching hall of fame and tell me how many of them were great players.
No wonder Eddie Jones said he would give his award to the dog to play with. That’s about what these things tend to be worth. Eleven out of the 16 winners of rugby’s top gong have been an openside flanker or a first-five. The glamour positions get the gongs. So let’s not worry about any of that nonsense.
Let’s just celebrate the past 12 months of the younger Ioane brother. I thought I may never see a more beautiful sidestep than that He may be the form winger in world rugby right now but All Blacks sensation Rieko Ioane says his long-term future remains at centre.
After making his international debut during last year’s end of season tour, Ioane was arguably the All Blacks’ best in 2017 with eight tries from 11 tests.
But despite his success in the No 11 jersey, Ioane wants to return to the position where he made his name at schoolboy and age group level.
‘‘Thirteen’s probably the longterm goal but for now, if I play 11, I play 11 and I’m pretty comfortable playing there,’’ he told AAP.
‘‘I’ll probably start to pick up playing centre a bit next year but for now I’m just happy to get on the field where I can.’’
Ioane played seven games at centre for the Blues this year but he knows he still has a lot to learn before he makes a full-time switch.
And he has a handy mentor in team-mate Sonny Bill Williams.
‘‘If I play 13, I’ll just look to keep developing my game at centre,’’ Ioane said. of Gerald Davies, but now I amnot so sure. Ioane’s sidestep is perhaps not so dramatic. It is a musical chord rather than an unexpectedly beautiful note. Ioane’s sidestep flows so smoothly that there hardly seems to be a change of direction. And he can do it off either foot. Defences are going to have to start to double-team him and even that at times has not been enough. The kid must have scored or created at least half of New Zealand’s tries this season. He has it all. Awareness, devastating pace, power and that gliding step. He also has subtle hands in his timing of a pass. Ioane does not chuck the ball at his support runners.
Steve Hansen nominated Ioane as his All Blacks player of the year, saying ‘‘he’s been phenomenal’’.
Before the weekend’s match Warren Gatland had identified the All Blacks flanks as ‘‘a real challenge for our two wingers’’. He knew what was coming and still he could not stop it.
Wales could not stop Ioane stepping through the middle and breaking a tackle to set up the first try. Three players hanging on could not stop Ioane getting the ball away for Anton LienertBrown to score. And even JPR himself may not have stopped Ioane as he stormed through for the game’s final try. Ioane is not quite as tall as Usain Bolt, but he has much of the same languid grace.
Ioane also has smarts. Just ask Dan Biggar or Ross Cronje. Both have been intercepted by Ioane this season for runaway tries. Bryan Habana used to be the master of the intercept, but Ioane has such a huge wing span that he may even exceed the South African poacher.
There are weaknesses, of course there are, the kid is only 20. In the first test against the Lions, the All Blacks protected his occasional vulnerability in the backfield. When the Lions had a defensive lineout on the right side early on, with the Murray box-kick a virtual certainty, Israel Dagg and Ioane switched wings so that Dagg could deal with the kick. In the second test Murray put in a cross-kick and Ioane made a hash of it in the in goal area. A little bit of Aussie Rules practice would aid Ioane’s game.
He can on occasion also get turned in on defence. When the Lions got down the right wing in the build up to a try in Wellington, Ioane turned in when he should have drifted. And could he have covered across for the Lions wonder try in Auckland? I don’t know if something was said at halftime, but at the start of the second half Ioane scorched across from his wing to tackle Anthony Watson and save a try.
But for the most part it has been a season of highlights. Damian McKenzie will not savour the memory of Ioane running over the top of him.
By the end of the match in Cardiff both Welsh wings were suffering from Dai-ja vu, as one wag called it. He scored four tries against the Aussies this season, never mind the times he scorched the Rebels and the Waratahs.
It’s not bad in a season when Ioane has had flu, mumps and a crook shoulder. Hansen once thought he was a future centre and hopefully has revised that opinion. Ioane is a strike runner and, in the mind’s eye of Hansen, a potential superstar.
Hansen said: ‘‘He could go anywhere, that kid. Every time he gets the ball you think ‘wow, what’s going to happen?’’’
Let’s just keep his feet on the floor, urges Ian Foster. And can we keep them there with a couple of large nails, urges the rest of the world. They know Ioane is already a superstar. There seems to be no stopping the All Blacks young blaze of glory.